MusicID: Beautiful Music Discovery App

I remember when I bought my first iPhone I was impressed by the quality of an application called Midomi (now Soundhound) which allowed you to hold you iPhone next to the stereo and, through an internet connection, instantly know which song was playing. To me (and later, to my friends) that was a revolution. God knows how many times we were hanging out somewhere in my town, and heard that song playing in a bar but we couldn’t know what song it was. Midomi was the perfect application to me, it sported a great user interface and definitely helped me discover a lot of new songs. Many other apps came out in the App Store after Midomi, all of them promised to do what Midomi was already doing but they failed. That app was the best.

Up until now Soundhound has done a great job on my iPhone. But just some weeks ago I decided to replace it with another app, MusicID.

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iPad, Google Voice and Incoming / Outgoing Calls [Video]

To those who said the iPad was “just a bigger iPhone”, I can now say you were right guys. After watching this video you’ll see how indeed the iPad is a bigger iPhone which lets you even make bigger calls. Yep. Or maybe not.

Thing is, I stumbled upon this video on Youtube of this guy who’s managed to create a pretty straightforward method to use Google Voice on the iPad, call and receive calls even when the screen is locked. You just have to forward your GV number to Gizmo, run the iSip iPhone app on the iPad and insert your Gizmo settings. Also, you can use a bluetooth headset for it.

I think it’s cool, and I’d love to test Google Voice someday myself. Sadly, it’s not available in Italy. Check out the video after the break.

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Checkmate Winners Announced

Thanks everyone who entered the Checkmate giveaway.We also want to thank the Hard Carved Code developers for the promo codes they offered to MacStories readers.

Here are the winners:

Weston Gallagher

Vivek

Mathew Rice

Wilfred Kidd

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You’ll receive the promo codes in your inbox in a few hours. Stay tuned for other giveaways coming this week.

You can follow the official MacStories Twitter account as @macstoriesnet or Federico as @viticci

Run Mate, A Universal Running Application. Review & Giveaway!

Half way through the Couch to 5k program, I’m already looking at taking my game to the next level. But good running apps are difficult to find for the iPhone, and they’re even worse for the iPod touch since you have a lack of GPS capabilities. You see, while you have niche running apps geared towards specific programs, the majority of running apps usually involve tracking distance, elevation, time, maybe speed, and maybe calories burned. I think a good example of a running app that solely focuses on your performance would be Nike’s. But the problem is, apps like this are geared towards people who’ve been running for a while, and just need a tracker. Finding an application that helps you reach a goal or hit a milestone is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

To solve this problem, Run Mate lets you build your own running programs. If you come across a new routine online, simply add it to Run Mate, do a couple stretches, then press the start button. It’s that simple.

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